The Voice of the 

PR 

b0£7 
03Vb 

I89T 



Valley 



YoneNocruchi 




Class "P^6 Q R T 



PRESENTED BY 



1897 




REBEKAH CRAWFORD 



The Voice of the Valley 



The Voice of the Valley 

By 

Yone Noguchi 

Author of " Seen and Unseen " 

Introduction by Chas. Warren Stoddard 
Illustration by William Keith 




William Doxey 

At the Sign of the Lark 

San Francisco 



* C ^1*{; 



1 \9^ 



Copyright, 1897 
William Doxey 



Gift 
Rebekah. Crawford 
Mar,14-1927 . 



THE DOXEY PRESS 



To 
Nelly E. W. Smith 

Pray, thou who art the first to touch the 
heart to these lines, be the last to read 
alone, and bless me when the world has 
forgotten me! 



Contents 

Introduction 9 

The Voice of the Valley 

Song of Day in Yosemite Valley . 13 

Song of Night in Yosemite Valley 2 1 

In the Valley 27 

The Night Reverie in the Forest 3 1 

The Song of Songs 

which is Noguchi's 

I Hail Myself as I do Homer . 41 

Hymn of Summer ..... 45 

Adieu 49 



Introduction 



T? VER since my first visit to the Yosem- 
"^ ite Valley, nearly thirty years ago, I 
have believed that no verbal description 
can give the reader an adequate idea of 
its marvelous and manifold features ; that 
the ordinary forms of verse cannot com- 
pass it; that at most the poet can only 
suggest; and that, after all, the mere 
suggestion is sufficient — the imagination 
supplying what is lacking in form, color, 
and detail. But the suggestion must be 
offered by one singularly gifted, and pos- 
sessed of a temperament as picturesque, 
as variable, as unique as the Valley itself. 



Introduction 

He must also be a word-builder, if he 
would conjure the echoes from that valley 
of the shadow, where heaven and earth 
meet, where there is no horizon save the 
cloud-rack and the storm. 

When I heard that Yone Noguchi was 
in the Yosemite with his exalted muse, it 
seemed to me that this unconventional 
child of nature, this boy whose heart and 
soul lie naked and bare, must strike a 
chord that all the voices of nature shall 
respond to — and for these reasons: — 

Noguchi is a word-builder of startling 
originality and power; inspired by the 
charming audacity of innocence, he is 
unfaltering in his flights; the sensuous 
imagination of the Oriental has lost noth- 
ing of its fire and splendor, though the 
new medium of expression is the most 
literal English that ever was uttered : his 
lines are charged with primitive eloquence ; 



Introduction 

his is the spontaneous song of a heart 
that is overflowing with melody — of a 
soul that would set all the world to mu- 
sic. There are passages in his poems as 
lofty and abrupt as the precipitous walls 
of the Valley he adores ; there are shad- 
ows, also, where the imagery is vague — as 
imagery should be where overshadowed; 
there are heights dazzling with frost and 
sunshine; and over all is the fathomless 
and alluring sky, into which he soars like 
that aspiring soul of song that rests not 
this side the Gate of Heaven. 

If he is sometimes obscure, it is be- 
cause he has flown into cloud-land, where 
obscurity is a virtue ; haunted by a mem- 
ory of Yosemite, an occasional extrava- 
gance is surely permissible. 

With the passionate enthusiasm of 
youth, this unspoiled poet has fluttered 
the eagles on their star-crowned peaks, 
ii 



Introduction 

and I glory in the almost frenzied daring 
with which he has chanted The Song of 
Songs which is NoguchVsl 

Chas. Warren Stoddard. 



St. Anthonys Rest, 
The Bungalow, 

No. 300 M Street, N. W., 
Washington, D. C. 



12 



Song of Day 

in Yosemite Valley 



Song of Day in Yosemite 
Valley 

O THUNDEROUS opening of the 
unseen gate of solemn Heaven's 
Eternal Court ! 
Behold, clouds, tenants of the sky, sweep 
down from the Heavens unto a se- 
cret palace under the Earth ! — 
Aye, mighty Yosemite! — a glorious troop 

of the unsuffering souls of gods 
Marches on with battle-sound against the 

unknown castle of Hell ! — 
Aye, a divine message of Heaven unto 
•Earth — the darksome house of mor- 
tals — to awake ! 

15 



Song of Day in Yosemite Valley 

Hark — the heart-broken cry of a great 
Soul !— 

Nay, the tempestuous song of Heaven's 
organ throbbing wild peace through 
the sky and land ! 

The Shout of Hell wedded to the Silence 
of Heaven completes the Valley con- 
cert, forms the true symphony — 

The Female-light kissing the breast of the 
the Male-shadow chants the sacred 
Union ! 

I, a muse from the Orient, where is re- 
vealed the light of dawn, 

Harken to the welcome strains of genii 
from the heart of the great Sierras — 

I repose under the forest-boughs that 
invoke the Deity's hymn from the 
Nothing-air. 

16 



Song of Day in Yosemite Valley 

Here, brother mortal, lies the path, like 
Beauty's arm, guiding thee into the 
Heaven afar! — 

Alone I stray by the mountain walls that 
support the enameled mirror-sky, 

Enfolding my free-born soul in the vice- 
purifying odors of the forest from an 
unknown corner of Paradise. 

Art thirsty ? — here rolls the snow-robed 
water for thy fulfillment ; 

Does dullness veil thee? — here a stone 
chamber invites thee into the world 
of dreams through an unseen door. 

O return, brother mortal, from Samsara 
unto the great Valley ! 

Yea, the mighty Temple of the World, 
everlasting with the heaven and earth, 
welcomes thee ! 

17 



Song of Day in Yosemite Valley 

Behold ! Yosemite, sermoning Truth and 
Liberty, battles in spirit with the 
Pacific Ocean afar! 

unfading wonder, eternal glory ! I pray 

a redemption from the majesty that 
chains me — 
(Lo, Hell offers a great edifice unto 
Heaven !) O, I bid my envy and 
praise rest against thee ; 

1 am content in the sounding Silence, 

in the powerless Time that holds the 

Valley in the age of gold ; 
I proffer my stainful body and leprous 

soul with blackest shame unto 

thee; 
I am united with the Universe, and the 

Universe with me. 



18 



Song of Day in Yosemite Valley 

O hail, brother mortal ! the true joy is 
revealed unto thee — 

Be thou a wave ebbing and flowing with 
the air of Heaven ! 

Behold ! The genii of the forest chant 
Peace unto the Lord from an un- 
known shrine in the Valley temple. 

O mighty chapel of God ! Thou know- 
est not an iron chariot stained with 
hostile blood; — 

Aye, idle spears and foolish shields dare 
not ruin thee, proclaiming War in 
Eternity ! 



19 



Song of Night 

in Yosemite Valley 



Song of Night in Yosemite 
Valley 

HARK! The prophecy - inciting 
windquake of the unfathomable 
concave of darkest Hell ! 
O, the God-scorning demon's shout 
against the truth-locked gate of 
mighty Heaven ! 
Heaven and Hell joining their palace and 
dungeon, remould the sinful universe 
to an ethereal paradise — 
O, the sphere is shaken by the Master- 
Mechanic working from the surface 
of the world to its center ! 

23 



Song of Night in Yosemite Valley 

Alas, the sun has fled in saddest woe ! — 
O mortal, breathe thy silent prayer 
unto mighty Yosemite for mirth ! 

Behold, the light of day leaves the white 
mansion to the care of dolorous 
night ! — 

The genii of the Valley fly from the roar 
of a thousand lions to the sacred 
peace above — 

Lo, an unknown jeweler decks the black, 
velvety heaven with treasure-stars — 

Yea, the Mother-Goddess, mantling the 
earth with the night, forbids Yosem- 
ite disturb her baby-angel's dream in 
the heaven ! 

Hark ! the night disconcord of the eter- 
nal falling of waters sounding dis- 
content throughout the earth — 



Song of Night in Yosemite Valley 

O, a chariot is rushing down to an un- 
known hollow in wild triumph ! 

Behold, a dragon reveals divinity in the 
ghostly-odorous sky of night — 

Nay, the mighty sword of the Judgment 
Day blazes down the Heaven to the 
gate of Hell ! 



25 



In the Valley 



In the Valley 

THE Sierra-rock, a tavern for the 
clouds, refuses to let Fame and 
Gold sojourn. — 
Down the Heaven by the river-road, an 

angel's ethereal shadow strays. — 
The Genii in the Valley-cavern consult in 

silence the message of the Heavens. 
O Lord, show unto mortals thy journal — 
the balance of Glory and Decay ! 



29 



The Night Reverie 
in the Forest 



The Night Reverie in the 
Forest 

"O UY my tears that I sucked from the 
-D breast of Truth — tears, sister spirits 
of Heaven's smile ! " sobs the Wind. 
Thou pale Wind, tear-vender of the hid- 
eous night, no one welcomes thee 
with thy unsold tears ! 
Thou Gipsy-Wind, my fellow-wanderer 
who fears light, cease thy plaintive 
strain of the sweet home ever lost ! 
" O Poet, sole midnight comforter, share 
my tears in thy heart ever tenanted 
by Autumn!" 

33 



The Night Reverie in the Forest 

Kiss me, Wind, to whom the gates of 
Spring never swing open, let us sleep 
under the weeping candle-star ! 

O Repose, whose bosom harbors the 
heavenly dream-ships, welcome me, 
an exiled soul ! 

Thou Forest, where Peace and Liberty 
divide their wealth with even a home- 
less convict, 

Let me sleep in thy arm-boughs, safer far 
than a king's iron castle guarded by 
mortal power ! 

Lull thy guest to reverie, master-spirit of 
the forest, with thy solemn love-tales 
of ancient gods ! 

Here Ease and Grandeur lodge in the 
forest's heart, where Time ever 
reveals his changeless youth. 
34 



The Night Reverie in the Forest 



L to 



Five miles I traveled — the black-robed 
bird-monk had ended his last prayer, 
a good-night hymn ; 

Ten miles, — I lost the home window- 
light that bids Sorrow and Tears 
depart like masterless dogs ; 

Twenty miles, — the eloping mother-moon 
had abandoned her child, my lonely 
soul. 

Thou Darkness, bewailing thy desertion 
by Light, I deplore my like fate, 
echoing thy saddest strain ! — 

Friend Night, my tears overflow from the 
love-fountain unto the sorrow-made 
dells ! 

I, an idle singer, fleeing from the world's 
shame, make a pilgrimage to an un- 
known land — O Heaven — or Hell ? 

35 



The Night Reverie in the Forest 

Thou Silence, who never responds to 
mortars voice, where is the secret 
door of Paradise ? — Speak once unto 
me ! 

O Star, thou radiant spirit of the blessed 
Beatrice who once guided a mortal 
unto Heaven, brighten now my 
darksome path ! 

I, a lone pilgrim, knock at the gate of 
Heaven — nay, the silent castle of 
Repose — O Repose! 

Rhyme on, Lady -Rivulet from thy 
mountain Memnon, thy tunable song 
awakening mortals* vanity-dreams ! 

Ah, Nakedness! Nakedness — to whom 
Shame and Pride are buried in the 
peaceful tomb of Faith ! 



36 



The Night Reverie in the Forest 

Ah, Loneliness! Loneliness — to whom a 
boatman of God is the sole savior 
on the vast Sea of Eternity ! 

I repose under the forest's arm-boughs — 
if I awaken not forever, pray, brother 
mortal, 

Make my grave under the greenest grass 
and carve this line : " Here sleeps 

A NAMELESS POET." 



37 



The Song of Songs 

which is Noguchi's 



I Hail Myself as I do Homer 

THE heart of God, the unpretending 
heaven, concealing the midnight 
stars in glassing the day of earth, 
Showers his brooding love upon the green- 
crowned goddess, May Earth, in 
heart-lulling mirth. 
O Poet, begin thy flight by singing of the 

hidden soul in vaporous harmony ; 
Startle the lazy noon drowsing in the full- 
flowing tide of the sunbeams nailing 
thy chants in Eternity ! 
The melody breathing peace in the name 
of Spring, calms tear to smile, envy 
to rest. 

41 



I Hail Myself as I do Homer 

Ah thou, world of this day, sigh not of 
the poets who have deserted thee — 
aye, I hail myself as I do Homer ! 

Behold, a baby flower hymns the cre- 
ation of the universe in the breeze, 
charming my soul as the lover- 
moon ! 

O Yone, — a ripple of the vanity-water, a 
raindrop from the vanity-cloud, — 
lay thy body under the sun-enameled 
shade of the trees 

As a heathen idol in an untrodden path 
awakening in spirit sent by the 
unseen genius of the sphere ! 

The earth, a single-roomed hermitage 
for mortals, shows not unto me a 
door to Death on the joy-carpeted 
floor — 

42 



I Hail Myself as I do Homer 

Aye, I call the once dead light of day 
from the dark-breasted slumber of 
night ! — 

I repose in the harmonious difference of 
the divine Sister and Brother, — Voice 
and Silence in Time. 

O Yone, return to Nature in the wood- 
land, — thy home, where Wisdom 
and Laughter entwine their arms ! 

Ah Cities, scorning the order of the world, 
ye plunder rest from night, paint day 
with snowy vice, — 

Alas, the smoke-dragon obscures the light 
of God ; the sky-measuring steeple 
speaks of discontent unto the Heaven ! 

O Yone, wander not city -ward — there 
thou art sentenced to veil thy tears 
with smiles ! 

43 



I Hail Myself as I do Homer 

Behold, the cloud hides the sins of the 

cities — regiments of redwood-giants 

guard the holy gates of the woodland 

against the shames ! 
Chant of Nature, O Yone, — sing thy 

destiny — hymn of darkness for the 

ivory-browed dawn — 
Behold, the deathless Deity blesses thee in 

silence from the thousand temples 

of the stars above ! 



44 



Hymn of Summer 

THIS is the month of gracious shade 
of trees — dusky hair on the marble 
ground-chest invoking mortals' 
worship. 
Here the composed wonder of the earth- 
canvas is divided by the proud black 
shade and virtuous white light. 
Sing, Summer Muse, the abundant love 
of the shade and light that overflows 
from Time's grand breast ! 
Harken, Genii, to the light and shade — 
gay prattle that is the despair of the 
poet's soul ! — 

45 



Hymn of Summer 

The zealous breezes from the four corners 
of the universe are pilgrims unto the 
forest-shrine where I pray. 

Confess, mortals, the deep-grounded sins 
of thy memory-record unto the God 
of the Woodland ! 

Ah, wonderful is the sacred remedy 
ensainting mortals' self-love at the 
forest-shrine ! 

Listen ! The sorrowless birds rejoice at the 
revealing of the Perfect Day ; they 
bend not their wishes unto titles and 
gold. 

Enter into Paradise, mortals, — the guar- 
dian-birds of the hidden gate call thee ! 

Come, Goddess, whose maiden eye-doors 
are enameled with the dethroned 
stars of heaven — 
46 



Hymn of Summer 

Come, Beauty, whose lips, portals to the 
love-mansion of her heart, are illu- 
mined with blood from flower cheeks, 

Sing unto thy slave the song of the 
angel-land where thou and I hide 
from vile mortals ! 

Sing, Summer Muse, the everlasting 
greenness of trees that breathes the 
unwithering health of celestial youth ! 

I hail the beauteous abundance of the 
leaves that perfect their secret toilet 
with the sun's power ! 

Rise, Poet, sing of the fairy world that is 
not Time's mere fancy, where the 
olive of balmy age ever lives ! 

Thou, fearless mortals against Fate's 
tyranny, art the worthy partners of 
Heaven and Earth ! 

47 



Hymn of Summer 

Oh, this is the happy month of the ethe- 
real water that destroys Death and 
Sorrow for mortals under the shade ! 

I repose in the shade-breezes from angels' 
gardens — I sing the summer song 
that the rivulet echoes down from 
afar! 



48 



Adieu 

ADIEU, Sons and Daughters of the 
-^ ^ first pair of mortals ! 
Adieu, City — you know not of celestial 

joy rippling in tune with nature ! 
Adieu, Fame — a sunbeam following the 

darkness of night ! 
Adieu, Gold — glittering dust of the earth, 

valueless in the land of Heaven ! 
Adieu, Mansions — you wall the sky, 

hide the moon and the stars ! 
I love the unbroken peace of the country 

uniting the purple heaven with the 

green-carpeted earth below, — 

49 



Adieu 

I love the saintly chant of the winds 
touching their odorous fingers to the 
harp of the angel, Spring, — 

I love the undiscording sound of thou- 
sands of birds, whose concord of 
song echoes on the rivulet afar, — 

I muse on the solemn mountain which 
waits in sound content for the time 
when the Lord calls forth, — 

I roam with the wings of high-raised 
fantasy in the pure universe, — 

Oh, I chant of the garden of Adam and 
Eve! 

Behold ! The night's shadow girding 
round our half-sphere, the world 
goes into reverie, — 

Yea, my spirit in a dream rises afar to steal 
the matchless pearls of eternal stars ! 

50 



Adieu 

Hark ! the far-off fowl sings of the 

divine morn of light ! I hail the 

glorious sun's ascent ! 
I chant again of the complete order of 

the universe with the earth, with the 

heaven above ! 



5T 



I 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



TheVoi 




014 707 390 2 



Valley 



YoneNoguchi 



